The United States Hockey Hall of Fame announced on Wednesday that former Senator Scott Gomez has been selected to its 2025 induction class. The two-time All-Star is best known for his time with the New Jersey Devils, but also played with the Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers, Florida Panthers, San Jose Sharks, St. Louis Blues, and yes, for the briefest of time, the Ottawa Senators.

You'd be forgiven if you forgot that Gomez, now 45, ever played for the Senators. Gomez played 1079 games in the NHL, but only the final 13 came with the Senators at the end of the 2015-16 season.

The Sens needed a centre after Kyle Turris went down with an injury, and Gomez, who was playing in the AHL with the Hershey Bears, signed on here as an unrestricted free agent, joining his seventh NHL team in four years. At that point, Gomez's best days were behind him, and he put up just one assist in 13 games as a Senator. He hung up the blades at the end of that season. 

But Gomez had a fine career, putting up 181 goals and 756 points. He burst into the league, winning the Calder Trophy during his 1999-00 season after posting 70 points during his rookie season with the Devils.

He reached the 60-point mark on six occasions and was part of two Cup winners with the Devils, including the one that defeated Ottawa in seven games in the 2003 Conference Final.

Gomez becomes the first Alaskan added to the American Hall and never forgot his roots. In fact, during the last two labour stoppages, he played for his hometown Alaska Aces in the ECHL, and while the NHL was cancelled completely in 2004-05, Gomez was named the ECHL MVP.

After hockey, Gomez was an assistant coach for a couple of years with the New York Islanders. In 2020, he tried his hand at a light-hearted YouTube channel that features various skits about life in Alaska.

Today, Gomez is head coach of the USHL's Chicago Steel. 

By Steve Warne
This article was first published at The Hockey News-Ottawa

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Mo Brings The Mojo - Feb. 4 2022 - Vol. 75 Issue 11 - Matt Larkin

THE HOCKEY NEWS’ 2019 Draft Preview rated Seider 22nd in his class, well below projected stars such as Jack Hughes and Kaapo Kakko but also behind half a dozen players who still don’t take regular shifts in the NHL today. The scouting report complimented Seider’s 6-foot-4 frame and big shot but described him as an “intriguing but raw prospect” and qualified his strong play with Mannheim of the DEL with, “The German League is not the best league in Europe, but…”

Perhaps it was the German factor obscuring Seider’s top-prospect status. At the time, his nation had produced just 15 NHL defensemen, and only three had made sizable impacts: puck-mover Christian Ehrhoff, whom Seider looked up to; rugged Stanley Cup winner Dennis Seidenberg; and Uwe Krupp, who scored the Cup-clinching goal in overtime for the Colorado Avalanche in 1996. Seider also didn’t come from a rich bloodline of athletes. His parents ran a home for the elderly before quitting to move to Mannheim to support their son’s hockey dream when he was 13.

But the new Yzerman regime saw something in Seider anyway, and not just because he’d won DEL rookie of the year in 2018-19. They identified a caliber of two-way hockey sense that’s tough to teach. The Wings had a history of hitting home runs at the draft when going off the board, having selected seven-time Norris Trophy winner Nicklas Lidstrom 53rd overall in 1989, a pick they settled on because of his preternatural hockey sense. Yzerman, Lidstrom’s longtime teammate, was transferring that logic to pick Seider, a kid who grew up watching Lidstrom’s games “every single night,” as Seider puts it.

To get drafted far earlier than expected and attract immediate Lidstrom comparisons could leave most teenagers trembling, but Seider viewed the surprise of going sixth overall as a positive. “Honestly, it was a shock for me, too,” he said. “Other than that, I was super proud being selected by an Original Six team, especially the Wings, with all the history, and from that moment, my life changed. My confidence grew, definitely. But I was not worried about the number that was in front of that pick. I wanted to make sure I made the team as soon as possible and had a good impact.”

No kidding. The way Seider played in the months following the selection, when he came to North America to play for the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins, he rapidly transformed from reach to steal. Shawn Horcoff, the Red Wings’ director of player development, explains that the team staff working on the North American side hadn’t seen much of Seider before he came over. He and coach Jeff Blashill refer to Seider’s Adler Mannheim stint as when he “played in the men’s league,” which almost makes it sound like a beer league. They were taken with his character and charismatic personality upon meeting him but didn’t yet understand how much potential Seider possessed.

I was super proud being selected by an Original Six team, especially the Wings, with all the history, and from that moment, my life changed

- – Moritz Seider

As Blashill remembers it, some of the rawness was as advertised in the early going as Seider learned how to make quicker decisions with the puck. But any doubts about his ceiling disappeared quickly. Horcoff began to envision the type of all-situations defender who could play 25-plus minutes a night. “It was apparent early the kind of tools that he had and the ability to play all aspects of the game,” Horcoff said. “So, as a development staff, it was pretty clear to us, ‘This kid’s got a chance,’ a guy that can impact an NHL hockey game at all levels.”

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Seider could hit. He could shoot. He could make a strong first pass. He skated very well for a big man. He shot right-handed. He showed leadership qualities. It wasn’t long before he became the Griffins’ top defenseman, and he captained Germany at the World Junior Championship in 2020, too.

By spring 2020, in The Hockey News’ Future Watch, a panel of active NHL scouts and executives graded Seider as the No. 6 NHL-affiliated prospect in the game, second only to Colorado’s Bowen Byram among blueliners. The perception changed from “Yzerman reached” to “Yzerman’s done it,” and with the shift came calls for Seider to jump to the NHL. Would he join Detroit’s blueline by 2020-21, or would the long-term tank mission withhold him?

The decision was taken out of Detroit’s hands when COVID-19 delayed the start of the 2020-21 AHL and NHL seasons. The Wings didn’t want to waste crucial development time bouncing Seider between the AHL, NHL and taxi squad, so they sent him to Rogle of the Swedish League. “It was really important to Steve Yzerman, as it should have been, that Moritz was playing and developing at such a young age,” Blashill said. “And the decision was made for him to go to Sweden and, once he did, that he was going to be there for the year. Could he have played (in the NHL)? Yeah, he could have played, but none of us thought that was the best thing for him. You need to make sure you’re doing what's best for these prospects and make sure they’re in situations where they can thrive and not just survive.”

More Red Wings: Exclusive: Red Wings Prospect Shai Buium Eyes NHL Roster Spot: “Make It a Hard Decision”

Seider did just that, dominating the SHL and winning defenseman of the year. Working in his favor that season was his attitude. He never viewed the Swedish assignment as an insult. He’s an optimist. Horcoff describes him as a happy guy with a contagious smile. As Blashill puts it, “You know when you’re in the room with him.”

He’s a thoughtful, social person who says his favorite thing to do outside hockey is “sit downtown in Mannheim and have a coffee with my friends, and we usually just chill there all afternoon and talk. Sometimes serious topics, sometimes not the best topics, but also some fun stuff.” He was perceptive enough to know a year in the SHL would help him. “Being patient is a big strength of mine, and I just needed time first, to grow as a hockey player, to be more mature on and off the ice and develop a more complete game at both ends of the ice.”

By 2021-22 training camp, there was virtually no doubt Seider, 20, would march right to the NHL. He did, and he won rookie of the month for October. By late January, he easily led rookie blueliners in scoring while averaging 22:30 of ice time, almost two minutes more than the closest rookie defensemen. He easily held the best shot-attempt share in 5-on-5 play among Red Wings D-men. As he develops confidence and joins the rush more, his offensive play has been slightly superior to his defensive play, but it’s coming around. “That balance of when to jump in the play, when to be the guy joining and when to be the guy not necessarily leading the rush is something we’ve worked on with him,” Blashill said. “But Moritz has a real good inner confidence to him. He’s got great self-belief that way. He’s able to handle coaching. It doesn’t affect him in a negative manner. He takes the information in, and he does what he thinks is best when he goes on the ice, and that’s what the best players do.”

The best players also lead, and Seider will do that – his own way. Teammates will follow him, but they’ll laugh along the way. The young man loves to dance. It’s somewhat of a trademark. And he does it with a purpose. “Whatever our DJ plays, I’ll vibe with, and I just want to make sure I feel good, get loose, don’t have any pressure,” he said. “If that transfers to the other guys and they feel good, even better. I wouldn’t say I have a strong voice, but I just try to make sure everyone is feeling good and get the most out of their game. If it’s just telling a joke or making someone laugh, that’s a great thing, too. I’m not running around and screaming in the locker room. I just try to lead by example on the ice and hope the guys will follow.” 

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In a recent article for Bleacher Report, Joe Yerdon ranked each team's goalie tandem heading into the 2025-26 season. The Chicago Blackhawks' tandem of Spencer Knight and Arvid Soderblom received a tough ranking, as they finished at the No. 29 spot. 

With this ranking, the Blackhawks only finished ahead of the San Jose Sharks (Yaroslav Askarov & Alex Nedeljkovic), Philadelphia Flyers (Samuel Ersson, Dan Vladar & Ivan Fedotov), and Pittsburgh Penguins (Tristan Jarry & Arturs Silovs). 

Teams ranked just ahead of the Blackhawks on Yerdon's list are the Seattle Kraken (Joey Daccord & Philipp Grubauer), Columbus Blue Jackets (Elvis Merzlikins & Jet Greaves), and Buffalo Sabres (Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Alex Lyon & Devon Levi).

Knight is a young goalie looking to prove that he can be a legitimate NHL starting goalie. In 15 games with the Blackhawks after being acquired from the Florida Panthers in the Seth Jones trade, Knight recorded a 5-8-2 record, a 3.18 goals-against average, and a .893 save percentage. In 95 games over four NHL seasons, the former first-rounder has recorded a 49-33-9 record, a .904 save percentage, and a 2.83 goals-against average. 

Soderblom, on the other hand, just landed a two-year, $5.5 million contract this summer after having the best season of his NHL career thus. In 33 games, he recorded a 10-18-7 record and set new career bests with a .898 save percentage and a 3.18 goals-against average. 

Overall, while the Blackhawks' goaltending may have some doubters heading into the new season, the potential for them to improve is certainly there. Knight has the tools to blossom into a high-impact goalie, while Soderblom should be able to build off his solid 2024-25 campaign. If both young goalies take steps forward in their development, they very well could move up other goalie rankings in the future.

Former Blackhawks Forward Signs With New TeamFor the second season in a row, former Chicago Blackhawks forward Tanner Kero will be playing overseas. 

Last month, former Montreal Canadiens blueliner Josh Gorges was appointed as an assistant coach with his junior team, the Kelowna Rockets. The gritty former defenseman gave an interview to The Gazette’s Stu Cowan, then spoke to RG.org’s Marco D’Amico. Since then, one part of that interview really stuck with me.

A defensive defenseman, Gorges didn’t get to score and celebrate that many goals in his career, but he says one memory that really endures with him is that improbable playoff run in 2009-2010. That was a fantastic time to be a Canadiens fan…

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Back then, I still lived in London, England, and this was before I had started writing about the team professionally, and I was just a fan, but a really dedicated one. With the five-hour time difference between Montreal and London, the games would start at midnight on my side of the pond, but I couldn’t even entertain the idea of missing a second of those playoff games. So every other night, I would stay up until at least 3:00 AM to watch my team play.

Early on, it looked like I wasn’t going to do that for much longer, but as Gorges recalls, the Canadiens came back from the 3-1 hole they had dug for themselves in the first round against the Washington Capitals. They fought tooth and nail, but they got there, and when I heard Pierre Houde say, “C’est terminé! Direction Pittsburgh!” I had goosebumps, and it was then that I knew that for me, hockey was much more than a hobby.

The next morning, as I walked to the Upminster train station to make my way to work at the Crown Prosecution Service, I had Anakin Slayd’s “Feels like ‘93” playing out loud on my phone, and believe it or not, I met a couple of Canadiens’ fans on the 10-minute walk, and when the puck dropped on the second round, I wasn’t alone watching it in my couch, I had a couple of friends.

The series with the Pittsburgh Penguins was just as spectacular and irresistible as tired as I was, running on three or four hours of sleep a night on game nights, I didn’t miss a single minute of the action. By the time the Canadiens booked their ticket to the Conference Final against the Philadelphia Flyers, there was a real buzz for the team all the way to London.

Even though the Habs went on to lose that series 4-1, that playoff run left so many people with so many memories. Whether they were on the ice like Gorges, at the Bell Centre like the 21,000 fans who were lucky enough to attend in person, or anywhere else in the world rooting them on, its impact cannot be denied.

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We’re into the month of September, which means a new hockey season is right around the corner.

In the coming weeks, the members of the Florida Panthers who aren’t already in South Florida will arrive back in their hockey home, ready to prepare for a quest to win a third straight Stanley Cup.

Usually, the time between free agency dying down in mid-to-late July and the start of training camp in mid-September tends to be on the quiet side.

Well, Thursday night the Panthers posted a new video to their YouTube channel that had me feeling anything but quiet and calm.

It’s a video of some of the most memorable and exciting moments of Panthers hockey over the past three seasons; what the team is calling their “best AURA plays.”

It was 22 minutes out of my day that felt well spent after watching.

Don’t be surprised to find yourself feeling similarly if you take the time to enjoy the show.

You can check out the video below:

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Photo caption: May 24, 2023; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers left wing Matthew Tkachuk (19) celebrates after scoring the game-winning goal against the Carolina Hurricanes during the third period in game four of the Eastern Conference Finals of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs at FLA Live Arena. (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)

In an interesting new twist, top Philadelphia Flyers center prospect Jett Luchanko is no longer the captain of his junior team, the OHL Guelph Storm.

That distinction now belongs to forward Charlie Paquette, a 19-year-old who was drafted 222nd overall by the Dallas Stars in the 2025 NHL Draft back in June.

Additionally, Guelph also announced that defensemen Quinn Beauchesne and Rowan Topp would wear the 'A' for the Storm, which means Luchanko isn't included in the team's leadership group at all.

The timing of all this is interesting, considering there was an uproar - a brief one, to be clear - when we had the brief false start on 19-year-olds being allowed to play in the AHL this season.

That isn't the case, so the fear for Flyers fans, and perhaps the Flyers themselves, is that they would have to put up with another year of NHL or bust with Luchanko.

The 2024 first-round pick showed his stuff in a brief AHL cameo last year with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, too, scoring three assists in nine regular season games and adding six more in seven postseason contests. That's the unfortunate part.

But, nobody would be as vehemently against Luchanko returning to the OHL if he was on a better team than the storm, like Denver Barkey and Oliver Bonk's London Knights last season.

One nice hypothetical landing spot for Luchanko, should the Storm trade away the prized Flyers prospect to rebuild, is the Windsor Spitfires.

That roster features fellow Flyers prospect Jack Nesbitt, and returnees like Liam Greentree, Ilya Protas, A.J. Spellacy, and top 2026 draft prospect Ethan Belchetz.

That alone is plenty of talent to surround Luchanko and help him hone his offensive game for another year without throwing him fully into the deep end at the NHL level. It's not to say he can't swim, because he probably can, but we haven't seen that one way or the other.

Any Luchanko trade talk at this time is purely speculation, but the coincidences are starting to line up in favor of a move that benefits him and the Flyers.

After that, regardless of any trade, it will be time for the AHL, and, later on, the NHL.